This study in the research domain of higher education sustainability addresses issues of policy and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in and through Hong Kong public universities. The purpose of the study was to critically analyze the problématique of achieving the SDGs by the Hong Kong higher education sector. The study used a post-empiricist qualitative design with Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis and an embedded case study methodology in order to explore the issues of the SDGs policy and implementation in eight public Hong Kong universities. The concept of sustainability ensoulment and the Higher Education Institution Sustainability Model served as a theoretical grounding for the interpretative analysis. The interpretive results showed a broad range of university responses and governmental support for SDGs despite small number of universities, and a score of authentic SDGs-related efforts, which were fully embedded into the educational mission of the universities. The essence from the interpretive analysis of the data suggests that the universities’ authentic attainment of the SDGs requires a ‘salutary detachment’ from putting excessive priorities on superficial sustainability standards and considering universities’ global ranking league tables as their principal goal. The study provides a structured discussion within five thematic areas: (1) regional-dominant sustainability challenges; (2) financing structure and independence; (3) institutional organization; (4) extent of democratic processes; and (5) communication and interaction with society. The research argues that a genuine SDGs attainment originates from what universities know best and regard as their threefold mission—research, teaching and knowledge transfer—to effectively generate global citizens with full ensoulment of the SDGs spirit and values, and thus, turning universities into authentically sustainable institutions. Copyright © 2022 Education Research Institute, Seoul

Purpose: This paper aims to provide data on the self-perceived state of sustainability consciousness of first-year Hong Kong students. Design/methodology/approach: Within a mixed-method research design framework, the authors conducted 787 questionnaires and collected 989 reflective narratives of first-year students of a university in Hong Kong, who were enrolled in the General Education course. Findings: Attributed to students’ immersion in compulsory sustainability education modules within liberal studies programs in secondary through higher education (HE), the quantitative results revealed an increase in the self-perceived knowledge and behavioral aspects of sustainability consciousness of Hong Kong students and their low engagement in sustainability-related civic, campus or action groups. However, qualitative results revealed three aspects of the students’ sustainability consciousness: intentionality to make a difference; engagement with complex questions about identity, society and nature; and eschatological perspectives, which included imaginative, future-oriented and action-oriented approaches to critical reflection, supported by the rhetoric of hope, promises and commitment for better future. Originality/value: The study provides insights into the challenge of implementation of the United Nations-based sustainable development model in the Hong Kong educational system through the formal liberal studies curriculum. It advances the field by constructing a momentum for conceptual changes in sustainability education research toward design of the non-linear and culturally sensitive frameworks for sustainability implementation in HE. This allows to utilize universities’ unique capacities for fostering students’ sustainability consciousness in a continuous and systemic way.
[Copyright © 2017 Tamara Savelyeva and William Douglas.]